“When I first had the feeling that I couldn’t feel my legs, I was a little bit worried and didn’t really sleep much that night, worrying about if I was ever going to walk again,” said Mr Dunne, who also has short-term memory loss following the concussion.

“But the doctors seem to think the feeling could come back in the next week or it could take a few months. It’s just a matter of time, waiting and being patient, I guess.”

Mr Dunne joked about a return for Dunnstown before finals, but conceded doctors’ advice had put an end to his football aspirations.

"You don’t expect to go out on the footy ground and come back and end up in hospital"

“You don’t expect to go out on the footy ground and come back and end up in hospital for a long time, but there’s always someone out there that is worse off and it could be worse,” he said.

Mr Dunne’s mother, Sharyn, who lives with her son in Ballan, said the support from friends and family had been “absolutely amazing”.

“Everyone has offered in any way to help.

“I can’t speak of the club more highly,” she said.

The family wished especially to thank Dunnstown president Mark Mullane, Springbank head trainer Andrea McMahon, who helped prepare Mr Dunne for hospital, and Towners netballer Bianca Leonard, who travelled to Melbourne in the ambulance.